My Wife Went Back to Beijing and Showed Me the Cool Innovation There

I lived in Beijing for 10 years and I’ve experienced the fast-moving pace but now innovation is rapidly driving the city forward.

My last trip to Beijing was during Chinese New Year in 2016 and back then I’ve already felt how things were being innovated quickly.

In the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2017 by Startup Genome that came out just a few weeks ago, Beijing and Shanghai are now ranked in the Top 10 of the Global Startup Ecosystem, number 4 and 8 respectively for the first time ever.

Beijing is in the number 2 spot in terms of performance, just behind Silicon Valley. It is also home to 4,800 to 7,000 startups and has the largest startup ecosystem in Asia in terms of number of startups according to the report.

So when my wife Grace who’s originally from Beijing showed me all the innovation and cool stuff that’s happening there, I’m not surprised how accurate the report was.

I asked her to take as many photos as possible so that I can write this blog post.

1. Cashless Payment Everywhere

When I left China in 2013, cashless payment was still at its infancy but it was already evident that the whole country was going towards it.

Now it’s everywhere.

You no longer have to bring cash when leaving your home.

It’s available at the market.

No cash needed when paying for parking.

2. Sharing Economy

A country which used to rely on bicycles is trying to encourage people to use them again to overcome extreme traffic congestions and pollution.

2 Comments on “My Wife Went Back to Beijing and Showed Me the Cool Innovation There”

Also almost everything in online now, people now use online app order food, almost all the nearby restaurant can do the food delivery, you can check your food status online, and know where the exact location of the deliver man, and when your food will come. The supermarket do the same thing, you can use the app to buy vegetables, food, drinks from your nearby supremarket, and just take half an hour for delivering the stuff.